The Marlins outrighted first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs off of the team’s 40-man roster. He has seen brief time in each of the last three seasons at the major league level, hitting just .227/.292/.303 in his 130 total plate appearances. This year was his first with an organization other than the Cardinals. While Scruggs didn’t perform in his 24-game run with Miami, he did post an excellent .290/.408/.565 slash with 21 long balls over 382 plate appearances at Triple-A while walking in 15.2% of his trips to the dish (against a 23.6% strikeout rate).

The Mariners re-signed lefty Brad Mills to a minor league pact. The 31-year-old has seen action in parts of six major league seasons, though he has compiled just 79 total MLB innings with a 7.97 ERA. Mills made nine starts at Triple-A in 2016, pitching to a 5.28 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 over 44 1/3 frames.

Catcher Jhonatan Solano will return to the Nationals on a minor league deal. The 31-year-old had cracked the bigs in each of the four preceding campaigns, but spent all of 2016 at Triple-A. He continued to struggle at the plate, as his .225/.286/.260 slash attests. With sturdy glovework behind the dish, though, he’ll function as organizational depth once again for the Nats — the only organization he has played for apart from a 2015 run with the Marlins.

Former Astros skipper and current Braves special assistant Bo Porter is receiving at least some consideration for the Rockies’ open managerial position, according to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. The report identifies a number of other possibilities on a growing list of names who appear to be on Colorado’s radar.

Another former Astros’ manager, current Indians bench coach Brad Mills, has also come up. His Cleveland staff mate, first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., is another name to watch. Obviously, neither of those possible candidates can be pursued in earnest at present, with the Indians just opening play in the ALCS.

Two other bench coaches who could draw interest from the Rockies are Dave Martinez of the Cubs, who also is busy with his current position, and Ron Wotus of the Giants. We heard earlier today that Wotus had received contact from a team with a managerial opening. Given that the Diamondbacks — the other team with an opening — haven’t yet resolved their front office situation, it seems reasonable to suspect that it was the Rockies who came calling.

Today’s report significantly expands the group of names tied in some way to the Rockies’ top dugout post. Last we checked in, the scuttlebutt was that former Brewers skipper Ron Roenicke (most recently of the Angels), former Padres manager Bud Black (ditto), Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, Braves first base coach Eddie Perez, and Rockies Triple-A skipper Glenallen Hill had some form of connection to the gig — though in some cases, the reporting involved interest on their behalf rather than the team’s.

All told, that slate largely represents a “who’s who” of skippers-to-be around the game. Those that haven’t yet taken managerial jobs at the major league level have at least interviewed for jobs with other organizations.

Still, the Rockies aren’t just looking to plug in an experienced hand. According to Harding, Colorado hopes to find someone “who will apply statistics and other research into managing and coaching, and who are adept at various methods for creating team chemistry.” In that regard, certainly, the organization seems to be participating in a near-universal trend leaguewide.

Here are some notable minor league deals on a day that produced a high volume of minor transactions…

The Nationals have signed veteran left-hander Aaron Laffey to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training, tweets MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko. Because he debuted at 22 years of age, it might be a surprise for some to find that the well-traveled Laffey is still just 30 years old. He spent the 2015 season in the Rockies organization but wound up pitching just 7 1/3 big league innings for Colorado, with the rest of his work coming in the minors. Laffey has spent parts of eight big league seasons in the Major Leagues and, with the exception of the 2014 season, has seen big league action each year dating back to 2007. He sports a career 4.44 ERA with 4.5 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9.

The Twins announced that they’ve signed outfielder Ryan Sweeney to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that Sweeney would receive a $750K base salary upon making the club. Sweeney, also 30, was a significant piece of the Athletics’ roster from 2008-11 but has been limited to a part-time role since that time. Sweeney was out of baseball in 2015 but will look to get back into the Majors in 2016. That he can handle all three outfield positions and has an outstanding defensive reputation in right field would seem to help his cause. Minnesota doesn’t have a clear-cut fourth outfielder at this time.

Lefty Ryan Buchter is headed to the Padres on a minor league deal with a big league Spring Training invite, MLB.com’s Corey Brock was the first to report (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has just one inning in the Majors — a scoreless frame with the Braves in 2014. However, he had a very strong year at Triple-A with the Cubs and Dodgers in 2015, pitching to a 1.78 ERA with 11.0 K/9 against 4.4 BB/9 in 50 2/3 innings of relief. Control issues have long plagued Buchter, but his strikeout prowess has helped him overcome that trouble in the minors, resulting in a career 3.26 ERA. Lefties barely stood a chance against him at Triple-A this season, where he yielded just a .187/.237/.225 against same-handed batters. His .211/.344/.257 line against righties was strong as well, though it also exemplifies his control issues.

Right-hander Jarrett Grube will return to the Indians on a minor league pact with a camp invite, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The 34-year-old has pitched just two-third of an inning in the Majors (2014 with the Angels), and while his overall body of work at Triple-A has resulted in a 5.07 ERA, Grube was outstanding at Triple-A in the Cleveland organization last year, firing 79 2/3 innings of 2.26 ERA ball with 7.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.

The Mariners have announced five minor league signings. In addition the previously reported signing of infielder Ed Lucas, Seattle has invited outfielder Mike Baxter, left-hander Brad Mills, right-hander Casey Coleman and right-hander Blake Parker to Major League Spring Training. Each player has some big league experience, though Baxter and Coleman have the most of the bunch. Baxter split last season with the Cubs and their Triple-A affiliate, logging 66 PAs in the Majors. Coleman saw significant work out of the Cubs’ bullpen and rotation from 2010-12, while Parker has spent a couple of seasons in the Cubs’ bullpen as well. Mills made one start for the A’s last season and has a fair bit of MLB experience but has never spent more than 21 innings in the Majors in a single season despite a strong track record at Triple-A.

Former No. 1 overall pick Matt Bush has signed with the Rangers on a minor league deal, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Bush has spent the past three years in prison, serving out a 51-month sentence for critically injuring a motorcyclist in a DWI incident back in 2012. GM Jon Daniels explained to Grant that he was skeptical when learning that Bush was interested in getting back into baseball, but the team was impressed with the level of sincerity expressed by Bush as he explained his regret and desire to turn his life around. (In May 2014, the victim, Tony Tufano, told Gabe Kapler — then of FOX Sports — that he has forgiven Bush and even will root for him in his attempt to turn his life around.) Bush won’t receive an invite to Major League camp and will instead be hoping to make one of the Rangers’ minor league affiliates, Grant notes, adding that Bush is enrolled in a 12-step program and will have to adhere to a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol and drug use with the Rangers.

The Padres announced today that infielder Taylor Lindsey has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Double-A San Antonio. Lindsey, 23, was designated for assignment last week just more than a year after coming to San Diego as a piece of the team’s Huston Street trade with the Angels. A former first-round pick, Lindsey’s bat has never come around in the minors, and he has a .592 OPS between the Double-A and Triple-A levels this season.

Likewise, Athletics lefty Brad Mills has been outrighted to Triple-A, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Mills was designated for assignment on Saturday after making one start for Oakland. The 30-year-old turned in five innings in the appearance, allowing three earned runs with a strikeout and a walk. Mills owns a 4.45 ERA over 127 1/3 innings at Nashville on the season.

The A’s added Mills to their roster yesterday so that he could make a spot start against the Orioles. He pitched five innings and allowed three runs, all of them coming on a homer to Adam Jones, as the Athletics lost 8-6. In parts of seven big-league seasons, Mills has a 7.97 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 79 innings. Unsurprisingly, he’s fared far better as a Triple-A innings-eater in that time frame.

The Athletics announced on Friday that they have designated right-hander Taylor Thompson for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Brad Mills, whose contract will be selected from Triple-A so that he can start tonight’s game.

The 28-year-old Thompson hasn’t pitched in the Majors this year and has just 5 1/3 big league innings total throughout his career, all of which came with the White Sox in 2014. He’s spent most of the season on the 60-day DL due to a shoulder strain, though he was recently activated and began pitching at Class-A Advanced before moving up to Triple-A. The results haven’t been great, as Thompson allowed seven runs in 8 2/3 innings with a 10-to-5 K/BB ratio.

The Athletics have reached an agreement with left-hander Brad Mills on a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy in his latest Minor League Transactions roundup. MLBTR’s Zach Links hears that Mills drew interest from a number of clubs, but chose the A’s because he felt it presented him with a strong opportunity to make the big league club again (Twitterlinks).

Mills, 30 in March, split the season between the Brewers, A’s and Blue Jays organizations, seeing Major League time with the latter two. Much was made of the trade that sent Mills from Milwaukee to Oakland for all of $1, but the procedural move proved to have little impact. Mills was knocked around for nine runs (eight earned) in 16 1/3 innings for Oakland, surrendering 19 hits with a 14-to-7 K/BB ratio. Oakland designated the southpaw for assignment, and he was claimed by the Blue Jays.

With Toronto, Mills yielded 13 runs in 4 1/3 innings and found himself designated for assignment once again, this time clearing outright waivers. He elected free agency following the season.

Mills was outstanding at Triple-A this season — a large reason for the bewilderment of Brewers fans following the initial trade. In 107 1/3 minor league innings, Mills pitched to a pristine 2.01 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. He will provide the A’s with some rotation depth which is much needed, as Jon Lester and Jason Hammel are free agents, while A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker are both recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Here are today’s minor moves and outright assignments from around the league…

Outfielder Chris Young has been given his released by the Mets, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. The 30-year-old was recently designated for assignment after struggling for much of the season,. New York will remain on the hook for the rest of his $7.25MM salary this year (less any meager savings that might be achieved if he hooks on with another club at the league minimum rate).

The Dodgers have inked righty Anthony Slama to a minor league deal, per the MLB transactions page. Slama, 30, saw brief action with the Twins in 2010-11, and has never played in another MLB organization. The reliever had a great 2012 Triple-A campaign, but struggled at the level last year and ended up with the indy league Southern Maryland Blue Crabs for 2014. Having allowed just two earned runs over 16 1/3 frames, he was picked up by a Los Angeles organization that has been looking for pitching depth.

Designated for assignment by the Reds on Tuesday, outfielder Ryan LaMarre cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Cotillo. Cincinnati is talking with the 25-year-old about a new minor league deal, Cotillo adds.

The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Rob Wort to a minor league deal and assigned him to short-season Class-A, according to the team’s transactions page. Wort, a former Nationals farmhand, had been pitching for the independent American Association’s Sioux City Explorers. The 25-year-old posted a sparkling 0.97 ERA with a 58-to-14 K/BB ratio in 37 innings with Sioux City this season. The relief prospect has never had much of an issue striking hitters out, as he averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine in five seasons in the Nationals organization, though he never progressed beyond Double-A.

Left-hander Brad Mills has accepted his outright assignment from the Blue Jays and will report to Triple-A Buffalo, tweets Chris Cotillo of SB Nation’s MLB Daily Dish. The 29-year-old southpaw, who is no stranger to being designated for assignment this season, was most recently DFA’ed by the Jays on Tuesday this week. He will look to continue his excellent Triple-A work in hopes of receiving another crack at the MLB roster.

The Blue Jays have outrighted southpaw Brad Mills to Triple-A Buffalo, according to the team’s transactions page. Mills, 29, was designated for assignment by the Jays on Tuesday and will have the option to elect free agency rather than report to Triple-A, having been outrighted in the past. He has a 9.15 ERA in 20 2/3 Major League innings this season but a sensational 1.81 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 89 1/3 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for Milwaukee and Toronto this season.

After clearing waivers, righty Ernesto Frieri has accepted an assignment to the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate, Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com reports on Twitter. After starting the season as the Angels’ closer, Frieri was dealt to Pittsburgh and then designated for assignment when he failed to right the ship. Though other clubs might have been willing to take a chance on him, Frieri’s $3.8MM first-year arbitration salary no doubt scared off any claims. It seems all but certain at this point that Frieri will end up being non-tendered in the offseason.